Cam device of hand knitting machine



MASA HAGIWARA CAM DEVICE OF HAND KNITTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig- 2 C B A March 31, 1959 Filed June 7, 1954 l l l u." 111' March 31, 1959 MASA HAGIWARA 2,879,653

CAM DEVICE OF HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed June '7. 1954 v 3 heet 2 lizzvelzi-an MHa/yL wcLPQ/ I Z M March 31, 1959 MASA HAGIWARA 2,879,653

CAM DEVICE 0F HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lzzuelz/tor ,Haywarm United States Patent CAM DEVICE 0F HAND KNITTING MACHINE Masa Hagiwara, Tokyo-to, Japan Application June 7, 1954, Serial No. 434,798

Claims priority, application Japan August 28, 1953 3 Claims. (CI. 66-60) This invention relates to improvements of hand knitting machine and more particularly to improvements of cam device thereof.

Various kinds of hand knitting machines, which comprise a series of equally spaced parallel stationary pins upwardly curved at their heads and attached on a longitudinal edge of knit-on-board, a series of parallel knitting needles supported in a naadle case at the same pitch as that of the said pins so as to be slid forwards and backwards, each of the said needles being located between two adjacent pins, and a cam device mounted on the needle case so as to he slid leftwards and rightwards and provided with cams capable of pushing and drawing the said needles, have heretofore been proposed.

For the purpose of knitting an excellent fabric of ade quate density by employing the hand knitting machine as described above, generally there should be a special relation between the gauge (the distance between two adjacent stationary pins, the said distance will be denoted by gauge in the following description) and thickness of knitting yarn. When the said gauge doesnot match with yarn thickness, an excellent knitted fabric would not be obtained. For instance, when yarn is too fine in comparison with the gauge, thin and weak work will be produced. On the other hand, when yarn is too thick in comparison with the gauge, too full work having poor elasticity will be produced. Therefore, an inferior knitted fabric will be produced in either case as described above.

However, when yarn is drawn backwards more than ordinary distance, that is, the retracted distance of knitting needles is increased somewhat, a knitted fabric of adequate density can be obtained by employing thick yarn even when the gauge is constant. On the other hand, when the said retracted distance is decreased suitably, a knitted fabric of adequate density can be also obtained by employing fine yarn.

For adjusting the said retracted distance of knitting needles, it has heretofore been the usual practice to displace the position of lowering cam relative to the position of raising cam or to shift knit-on-board forwards or backwards, but in the former method it is troublesome and difficult to adjust the relative position between the lowering and raising cams and to manufacture the cam mechanism suitable for the said adjustment and also the position of yarn guide becomes unstable due to unchangeability of the position of yarn guide, which often results in detachment of yarn from the needles, and in the latter method it is troublesome to adjust the knit-on-board and also bending of said board is apt to occur.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an improved cam device applicable to a hand knitting machine and capable of knitting excellent knitted fabrics, the density thereof being always best adequate in every case of employing thick or thin knitting yarn.

Other object of this invention is, more particularly, to provide a cam device which makes a knitting operation adapt to any thickness of yarn without accompanying various disadvantages as described above in connection with the usual hand knitting machines heretofore in use.

2,879,653 Patented Man. 31, 1959 Further object of this invention is to provide a cam device applicable to hand knitting machine and capable of adjusting the positions of lowering cam and yarn guide with very simple and accurate manner.

The said objects of this invention have been accomplished by employing a special cam device capable of adjusting retracted distance, of knitting needles without variation of relative position between lowering and raising cams.

For the purpose of adjusting the retracted distance of the knitting needles, according to this invention, raising cam, lowering cam and yarn guide are rigidly attached to cam supporting member so that they may be moved forwards and backwards at the same time by simple shifting of the said member.

This invention will be more clearly understood from the following description taken in connection with th accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a part of hand knitting machine provided with a cam device made according to this invention and partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a perspective back view of cam case of the cam device illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational side view of the cam device illustrated in Fig. 1, partly sectioned.

Fig. 4 is a back view of another example of the cam case according to this invention.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of other example of the cam device according to this invention, the said device being provided with the cam illustrated in Fig. 4 and cover of the said device being taken off.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the arm and the feeler that controls the arm, the remainder of the machine being omitted except for a fragmentary section of the needle case.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, a cam case 2 provided with a handle 14 and a cover 2' is fitted slidably on a needle case 1 forming also a slideway on which the cam case 2 slides which is provided with a base plate 18 capable of being fixed to any table 15 by means of an angle piece 16 attached in the said plate and a screw pin 17 screwed in the said piece 16. On the back surface of a cam supporting plate 3 which is supported in the said cam case 2 so as to be shifted to fore and back relative to the said cam case, are fixed two lowering'cams 4 and 4 capable of drawing knitting needles and a raising cam 5 capable of pushing said needles, the said drawing and pushing operations being achieved as hereinafter will be described- An arm 6 is pivoted by pivot pin or bolt n to the cam, supporting plate 3. As shown in Figure 3, arm 6 has an offset end to which is removably connected a supporter bracket 6' that carries a yarn guide 13. A fork-shaped member 6" having an up-turned end is secured by a rivet to a downwardly extending feeler mhaving a curved lower end. The feeler m is disposed below arm 6 and an aperture in said arm accommodates the rivet. A bracket member 6" having an upwardly bent end is secured to arm 6 remote from the fork shaped member 6".

A spring is stretched between the upwardly bent ends of the fork-shaped member 6" and member 6 so as to combine rigidly the arm 6, fork member 6" and the feeler m.

The curved end of the feeler m is frictionally engaged with the upper curved edge of the cam case 2, so that when the cam is slid to the right, the whole part composed of said members 6, 6, 6", 6" and m turns to the 2,879,653 I i i On the other hand, when the cam is slid to the left, the said part turns similarly to the right and takes the position shown by chain line 66. A screw adjuster 8 provided with a knob 12 is supported by bearings 9 and 10, the former being fixed to front edge 7 of the cam case 2 and the latter being fixed to the cam supporting plate 3 The said screw-adjuster 8 is screwed in a screw thread of the bearing 10, so that the bearing 10 and the cam supporting plate 3 can be shifted forwards and backwards relative to the cam case 2 by adjusting the knob 12. A pointing needle 33 is fixed to the cam supporting plate 3 so as to be shifted along the graduation 32 on the cam case 2 in accordance with the movement of the said plate 3, whereby adjustment of the said plate can be easily estimated. The cam case 2 is provided with screw adjusters 30 at the right and left sides of the said case 2 to tighten the cam supporting plate 3 after adjustment thereof, said adjusters being passed upwards through the holes 31 of the case cover 2'.

The front and rear walls of the needle case 1 are provided with a series of perforations, through each thereof being slidably inserted a knitting needle 22 provided with a butt 22, hook 23 and a latch 24.

The said hooks are preferably curved inwardly at their tips so that they may hook yarn, but may be easily removed otf from the meshes produced in the case of closed condition of their latches.

The knitting needles are additionally supported at their horizontal parts by a supporting case 21 which is fixed to the base plate 19 attached to the needle case 1. A series of stationary pins 26 is attached to the front part of a knit-on-board 20 along the longitudinal length thereof and at the same pitch as that of the said knitting needles.

The heads of the said pins are curved somewhat inwardly so as to prevent accidental removal of the meshes supported by the said pins.

For the purpose of preventing knitting needles from their idle movements, a resilient member 34 supported by the needle case 1, provided with a underwardly curved head and covered by a covering case 20 is arranged under the rear ends of the knitting needles 22 so that in the operating condition of the knitting needle, the rear end of the said needle may come into light contact with the said head, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, but when the said needle is to be set in the idle condition by shifting it to back position, the said end may be mounted under pressure on the said head to avoid idle movement of the said needle.

A stopper 27 for preventing the dropping of the'knitted fabric is supported by an arm 28 attached to the cam case 2 and a slightly curved latch-operator 29 is supported by the said arm 28 so that it may be positioned between the yarn guide 13 and the pins 26. The said latch-operator acts to maintain surely the latch 24 in opened state, as will be more clearly described in the following operation of the cam device.

.The operation of the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3 is as follows.

When the cam case 2 is slid rightwards by handle 14 the parts 6 and 6' take the positions as shown in Figure 1 and the butts 22' of the knitting needles come into contact with the cam edge A of the raising cam 5, so that the knitting needles are pushed successively forwards by the said edge until they take top positions at the top edge C of the said cam. The said butts, after their advancement to the said top position, are drawn backwards successively 'by the cam edge B of the lowering cam 4 until they take the lowest positions, whereby the needles are drawn backwards.

During the said backward movement of the knitting needles, knitting yarn supplied from the yarn guide 13 is hooked by the hooks 23 of the said needles and drawn backwards until the position corresponding to lowest position of the needles.

Nextly, when the cam case 2 is slid leftwards, the knitting needles are pushed forwards successively by the cam 4 edge A of the raising cam and then drawn backwards, after taking top position, by the cam edge B of the lowering cam 4' in the same manner as described above in connection with rightward sliding of the cam case. In the said forward movement of the needles, the yarn hooked in the said rightward sliding of the cam case remains on the advancing needle and comes behind the latch 24 after sliding over the said latch just behind the latch-operator 29, whereby the said latch takes the opening state thereof as shown clearly in Fig. 3. In this case, the latch is apt to be closed on the book 23 due to reaction force caused by dropping of the said yarn from the latch, but such closing can be efiectively avoided by the said latchoperator 29.

In the said next backward movement of the knitting needle from the top position thereof, the hook 23 hooks yarn again and the latch 24 is turned on the said hook by the yarn remained behind the latch as above, because the opened latch is raised by the said yarn.

During further backward movement of the said needle, the said yarn remained behind the latch slips down from the needle after passing over the latch, whereby knitted mesh is unhooked and pulled down. The said operation is repeated successively in each of the knitting needles resulting in knitting of the knitted fabric.

According to the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3, the cam supporting plate 3 can be easily adjusted for wards or backwards by adjustment of the knob 12 so as to make the position of lowering cam adapt to yarn thickness. Furthermore, with the said adjustment yarn guide can be effectively displaced by same distance as the adjusted distance of the lowering cam, so that yarn will be suitably delivered to the knitting needles so as to adapt to the displacements of the said needles.

Moreover, the said effective adjustments of the positionsof lowering cam and yarn guide are achieved in a simple manner as described above and mechanism of the cam device is relatively simple, so that the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3 is very excellent for actual employment.

In the cam operation, generally, an inaccuracy of the top positions of the knitting needles may be allowable within the range capable of hooking yarn, but the lowest positions of the knitting needles should be constant in order to make uniform meshes. Therefore, it is, if possible,'preferable to use only one lowering cam and two raising cams, because when two lowering cams are employed uniformity of the meshes are apt to occur due to difference in the dimensions and arrangements of the said lowering cams.

Therefore, in the embodiment of this invention, a cam supporting plate 3, the side edges D of the said cam 4 being lowering cam edges and the edges E of the said cams 5 being raising cam edges.

Operations of the said cams 4 and 5 are same with those of the cams 4, 4' and 5 in the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3.

In the cam in Fig. 4, besides the raising cams additional cams 5' and 5' are arranged in the openings 42 of the cam supporting plate 3 and rotatably pivoted at the pivots 43 so that the outside edges of them may be lowered down from the said openings so as to form cam edges which form continuous parts of the cam edges E and may be hidden into the said openings.

For the operation of the said additional cams 5' and 5", any suitable mechanism, for instance, the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5 may be employed.

In Fig. 5 is shown another example of the cam device of this invention, wherein the cam illustrated in Fig. 4 is employed and the same parts as the cam device illustrated in Figs. l-3 are indicated by same numerals.

Referring to the cam device in Figs. 4 and 5, a lowering cam 4, raising cams 5 and additional cams 5' are attached to a cam supporting plate 3 which is supported in the cam case 2 in such a manner that said plate can be shifted forwards and backwards by adjusting the adjuster 8 at the knob 12 thereof, as described in connection with the device in Figs. 1-3, to make the positions of cams and yarn guide adapt to thickness of knitting yarn. On the said plate 3 is attached a bearing plate 37, on which two parallel rods 38 are supported in the longitudinal direction. A movable member 39 provided with a handle 14 is supported by the said rods so as to he slid along the said rods. Screw-pins 44 are screwed in the said bearing plate 37 at the both side-walls thereof. The said member 39 supports an angle lever 6, on which a supporter 6' supporting a yarn guide 13 is attached detachably by a slot 45 made in the said supporter and a screw pin 46. Latch-operators 36 are supported by arm-plates 40 attached to the cam case 2 at the both sides thereof. The arms 41 extending from the said supporters of the said latch-operators along the front edge of the needle case act to hold the knitted product at a predetermined position.

Each of the additional cams 5' and 5 is provided with a damper 47 which is pivoted at the pivot 48 so as to be turned clockwise or counterclockwise around the said pivot.

In the right additional cam 5 when the damper 47 is put to the position as shown in the drawing by clockwise turning thereof, the outside edge of the said cam 5' is pushed out into needle path and acts as an additional raising cam.

On the other hand, when the damper 47 is turned counterclockwise to the position shown by chain line, then the said outside edge of the said cam 5' is retracted into the opening, so that it does not act as the cam.

The left additional cam 5' can be adjusted with same manner as above, but in this case operating positions of the said damper are reverse.

It is often desirable that a predetermined knitting needle or needles should be left in idle position or positions to knit by only certain knitting needles instead of knitting by all needles. The said object, according to the cam illustrated in Fig. 4, can be efiectively achieved by the steps of pulling the said additional cam 5' into the opening 42 by turning the damper 47 as described already and retracting knitting needle or needles to be left into idle condition by hand so that the butt or butts of the said needle or needles may come into the position of the said additional cam.

In the cam device illustrated in Fig. 5, the positions of yarn guide and cams can be easily adapted to any thickness of yarn by simple adjustment of the adjuster 8 as described in connection with the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3. Furthermore, handle 14 can be shifted towards sliding direction of the cam device within a predetermined range restricted by the screw pin 44, whereby the yarn guide is displaced to the position adequate to the positions of raising cams in spite of existence of two aparted raising cams, so that yarn guiding will be carried out very favourably.

The actual operation of the cam device illustrated in Fig. 5 is same with that of the cam device illustrated in Figs. 1-3.

As it is evident that many changes and modifications can be made in the above-described details of this invention without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to those details except as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cam device for hand knitting machines of the type wherein a series of equally spaced parallel stationary pins attached to a longitudinal edge of a knit-on board is provided and a series of parallel knitting needles are supported crosswise on said knit-on board at the same spacing as that of the said pins so as to be free to slide forwards and backwards longitudinally of said needles, each of the said needles being positioned between two adjacent said pins and provided with a cam device mounted on the knitting machine so as to be slid lengthwise along the knit-on board in either direction, said cam device being characterized by comprising a cam case, a supporting member supported in the cam case so as to be slid forwards and backwards in the said cam case longitudinally of said needles, raising and lowering cams mounted on said cam supporting member, openings in said cam supporting member, the raising cam being composed of two cam elements attached rigidly to the cam supporting member, and cam gaps being left between said raising cams and a lowering cam positioned between said raising cam elements for passing the butts of the knitting needles on said knit-on board, and a yarn guide attached to the said supporting member, and an adjusting means capable of shifting the said ca'm supporting member backwards and forwards longitudinally of said needles.

2. A cam device as claimed in claim 1, wherein an additional cam element is provided to each of the two raising cams, each of said additional cam elements being supported in said opening in the said cam supporting member so as to be movable therethrough to form an extension of the cam edge of the raising cam, and dampers capable of fixing the said additional cams at the cam position or at a retracted position.

3. A cam device for the hand knitting machine which comprises a series of equally spaced parallel stationary pin attached to a longitudinal edge of knit-on board, a series of parallel knitting needles supported at the same pitch as that of the said pins so as to be slidable forwards and backwards across said knit-on board, each of the said needles being positioned between two adjacent pins and the cam device mounted on the knitting machine frame so as to be slideable to the left and the right along said knit-on board and capable of pushing and pulling the said needles, said cam device being characterized by comprising a cam case, a cam supporting member supported in the cam case so as to slideable in the cam case forwards and backwards parallel to the axis of said needles, a lowering cam attached rigidly to the back surface of the said member, two raising cams attached rigidly to the said back surface, cam gaps being left between the said raising and lowering cams for passing the butts of the knitting needles, a bearing plate attached to the said cam supporting member, two rods supported by the said plate parallel to the knit-on board, a movable member provided with a handle and supported so as to be slideable along the said rods, an angle piece supporting a yarn guide projecting from said cam supporting member, screw pins mounted in the said bearing plate at each end thereof so as to adjustably stop the movable member at each end of its sliding movement on said rods, two

stoppers for stopping down the knitted fabric, each of which is supported by an arm plate attached to the cam case at each end thereof and two latch-operators to prevent closing of the latches of the needles moving towards the top most position of said needles, each of said operators'being supported by the said arm-plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 123,545 Appleton Feb. 13, 1872 2,670,618 Von Skene et al. Mar. 2, 1954 2,729,081 Lenkeit et al. Jan. 3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,537 Great Britain of 1884 509,477 Belgium Mar. 15, 1952 

